Couple Welcomes Anencephalic Baby They Created Bucket List for, Then Say Goodbye
10/10/2014 Dan and Jenna Haley are courageous parents who rejected abortion even though their baby had been diagnosed with anencephaly and was expected to die not long after birth. Not only have they celebrated life by choosing life for their child, they hit on a wonderful idea to make little Shane’s life as fulfilling as possible — before and after birth.
They created a Bucket List for little Shane.
Little Shane experienced so much in life before he was even born. Today, he finally saw the world outside his mother’s womb. Tragically, he passed away shortly after he was born.
Shane Haley was born today at 2:25 a.m.
“Today at 6:15 a.m., after meeting his entire family and being baptized into the Catholic faith, baby Shane died peacefully in his Mother’s arms,” Jenna and Dan Haley of Philadelphia wrote in a Facebook message. “We are so grateful for the time that we were blessed to hold and hug our son.”
Shane diagnosed with anencephaly, a malformation of the baby’s skull and brain. Many parents, upon receiving this heart-wrenching diagnosis, lose hope for their child’s future.
But Shane’s parents, Dan and Jenna Haley, are no ordinary parents. With a deeply-rooted faith in God, which has remained unshaken by the unclear path set before them and their son, Dan and Jenna relinquished their anxiety and fear and chosen to embrace the time they had with Shane — however long or short that may have been.
On their Facebook page, Prayers for Shane, they recorded memories they are making with little Shane, using the hash tag #shanesbucketlist. They have visited family, gone to the zoo, and attended sporting events. In fact, Dan is a semi-professional baseball player, and little Shane is his biggest fan.